PLO financier flees to London

jerusalem post ^ | Aug. 18, 2002 | By KHALED ABU TOAMEH AND MUHAMMAD NAJIB

[dennisw]

 

 

PLO financier flees to London

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KHALED ABU TOAMEH and MUHAMMAD NAJIB Aug. 18, 2002

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Jawid Ghussein, a Palestinian multi-millionaire who ran the PLO's finances for 12 years, has fled from Jerusalem to London. Palestinian security officials accuse Ghussein, 71, of embezzling $7 million.

Ghussein, who was the head of the PLO's National Fund, a body that supervises the Palestinian economic institutions and social welfare projects, had been under house arrest in Gaza ever since he was abducted from his hospital bed in Cairo by PA security agents last January. The National Fund is in charge of hundreds of millions of dollars that are transferred to the PLO by Arab states as part of their pledge to support the Palestinian struggle.

Ghussein returned to Gaza two years ago from the United Arab Emirates to face charges of corruption and stealing the $7m. He said then that he returned at the personal request of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat. Despite the accusations, Ghussein was never put on trial. Instead, the PA preferred to reach a deal with him according to which the money he allegedly stole would be considered a long-term debt. The deal was aimed at preventing further embarrassment to top PA officials, who were also allegedly involved in the theft.

It is still not clear how Ghussein managed to leave Gaza the first time, but some PA sources suggest that he may have bribed senior Palestinian officials who allowed him to head for Cairo.

Last week Ghussein once again managed to leave the Gaza Strip, this time under the pretext that he was in poor health and needed medical treatment. A PA security official said that an investigation has been launched to determine how Ghussein managed to leave Gaza and whether he had received help from top PA officials.

The official said that a preliminary investigation showed that Ghussein left through the Erez checkpoint in an ambulance belonging to the Palestinian Red Crescent. He was taken ostensibly for treatment at Mokassed Hospital on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives, from where he apparently made his way to Ben-Gurion Airport.

"He has violated an agreement reached with him by flying to London without paying his debts," the official explained. "Now he has broken the law again and we will demand that Britain extradite him to Gaza."

The Jerusalem Post has learned that while staying in Jerusalem, Ghussein managed to obtain a Jordanian passport, which he used to travel through Ben-Gurion Airport.

Ghussein left his job several years ago in protest against Arafat's support for Saddam Hussein following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Ghussein has excellent relations with the leaders of the Gulf states, who were offended by Arafat's siding with Saddam. Ghussein accused Arafat of harming Palestinian interests by supporting the Iraqi invasion, especially when more than 350,000 Palestinians were kicked out of Kuwait and other Gulf countries.

The PA has since been pursuing him for $6.5m. (plus interest) which he "borrowed," or took to invest, in 1991. Ghussein has repeatedly denied the charges against him, expressing readiness to return some of the money. Palestinian officials fear the Ghussein scandal will shed unflattering light on the PLO's usually opaque management of its money.

Ghussein says the row with the PA is not about a loan, but about an "unsuccessful investment" which was made in 1991 with Arafat's approval.

His daughter, Mona Bauwens, and his son, Tawfiq, both of whom live in London, have been waging a campaign to secure his release and hinting that he knows enough to blow the lid off PLO corruption.

Bauwens shot to fame a few years ago after David Mellor, the Tory minister, and his family accepted a holiday in Marbella at her expense. She arrived in Jerusalem last week and accompanied her father to London.

Amnesty International, which has been following his case, said last year that Ghussein is being pursued by the PA for political reasons, possibly because of his past criticisms of policies of leading members of the PLO.

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Copyright 1995-2002 The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/

[dennisw]

ping

[FreedomPoster]

My sense is that this guy was a piker, compared to what Arafat likely has stashed away.

[JohnHuang2]

Heads up

[Diogenesis]

He probably got his $7,000,000 by helping Terrorist Arafat
get HIS $1,300,000,000 stolen from his "people".

Terrorist Arafat: "(thinking) I still think that they
will never get my daughter or the $1.3 billion dollars.
Barnum was right."

[Drammach]

He can probably provide important information concerning Arafat's true assets, and how much "humanitarian relief" is actually sitting in Switzerland.
$6.5 million is pocket change compared to what Yasser has stolen from "his" people.

[Ciexyz]

The first time I read about PLO corruption was on this website. Recently, US News and World Report featured a long article on PLO millionaires who partied shamelessly and drove limos and lived in mansions, while the refugee children were malnourished and encouraged to become suicide bombers.

[bandleader]

I Agree!The only reason that he's being "tarred & feathered"by his former buddies at the PLO is because he blew the whistle on "Arafat,The Gonnif"!!!!!

[Stultis]

Nothing new. From the website of the the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, and the rest from FreeRepublic:

Palestinian Corruption, Democracy and Peace (July 2001)

How Arafat Rips Off His Own People

Richard Z. Chesnoff

New York Daily News (July 9).

PALESTINIAN leader Yasser Arafat constantly moans that Israel's war against terrorism is "starving our children." Truth is, it's his own hypercorrupt administration that's bleeding the Palestinian economy dry.

According to Rachel Ehrenfeld, director of the New York- based Centre for the Study of Corruption and the Rule of Law, the Gaza Grabber has been systematically skimming the $75 million a year in U.S. funds he has received since 1994 — not to mention major portions of the aid from other countries and Palestinian tax revenues.

Tales of Arafat's wealth are hardly new. A 1994 British intelligence study estimated that he controlled assets of up to $10 billion and that as a result, the Palestine Liberation Organization enjoyed an annual income of as much as $2 billion.

Rep. Benjamin Gilman (D-N.Y.) asked the General Accounting Office to prepare its own detailed assessment of the PLO's assets. The report was completed in June 1995, but the Clinton administration — eager not to rock the peace-process boat — barred it from public view.

That hasn't prevented details of the PLO's ill-gotten fortune from coming to light. Last year, hackers — believed to be disgruntled Palestinians — broke into Arafat's computer system and found details of more than $5 billion in secret bank accounts in Switzerland, the U.S., Asia and North Africa. The accounts are not registered in the PLO's name, but in the names of private individuals who have Arafat's trust.

The hackers also discovered that Palestinians own shares on the Frankfurt, Paris and Tokyo stock exchanges, including stock in the German car giant Mercedes-Benz and real estate in some of Europe's most prestigious neighbourhoods.

And how's this for irony? Arafat, the one-time mastermind of aircraft hijackings, is part owner of several airlines, including the national carriers of the Maldives and Guinea-Bissau.

On the ground in Gaza, where more than 50% of the population is unemployed and barely any public housing has been built, Arafat & Co. erect one luxury villa after another, drive fancy cars and grow fatter on public funds.

Some of Arafat's closest pals control entire industries. Even Arafat's wife, Suha, is reportedly co-owner of a monopoly in the garment trade.

Arafat's gang isn't satisfied just with legal loot. According to intelligence sources, Arafat has launched an international counterfeiting scheme. The man behind the bogus bills: Fuad el-Shukabi, one of his senior financial advisers. El-Shukabi, say the sources, recently purchased two new printing presses. A trial run of some $150,000 in Kuwaiti dinars was successfully distributed in Beirut and the Persian Gulf States.

El-Shukabi then had the presses flown into Gaza aboard Arafat's own plane. The current plan: to run off large quantities of Jordanian 20 dinar notes and U.S. $50 bills, using paper purchased in South America.

The pro-Arafat propaganda machine recently launched a phoney campaign to have Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon indicted for war crimes allegedly committed in Beirut 19 years ago. If anybody should be indicted, it's Arafat — for international fraud and corruption. Where's Interpol when you need it most?

Richard Z. Chesnoff is a senior correspondent at US News And World Report and a columnist at the NY Daily News. His latest book, recently updated, is Pack of Thieves: How Hitler & Europe Plundered the Jews and Committed the Greatest Theft in History.

[Stultis]

and the rest from FreeRepublic

Pardon. Still working on pulling those additional links together.

[Stultis]

A few more links:

Palestinian Authority Amasses Major Debt

A Kuwaiti Daily Reports Arafat Deposited $5.1 Million from Arab Funds into His Personal Account (MEMRI)

Kuwaiti Daily: Arafat Deposited $5.1 Million from U.S. Aid Funds into a Personal Bank Account (FR thread w/ incorrect title and outdated link)

Arab nations halt funding after reports Arafat embezzled aid

Palestinian anger builds over leaders' alleged corruption

[Stultis]

And a few more:

'CORRUPT' YASSER'S $11B STASH

PA transferring tens of millions of dollars overseas

I've tagged these articles, and will tag the others I linked, with the keyword PA KLEPTOCRACY. If anyone has a better suggestion (that is within the 20 character limit) please speak up.